Whose personality mask's power comes from the heroic spirit?

"But what I want to tell you is that a mere thousand men would have completely lost their courage and fled in all directions after seeing the enemy." Nouhime stood up and slowly walked to Niwa Nagahide's side, looking down at him and continued, "The Oda army without Lord Nobunaga does not have the determination to win by 'living in the face of death'... nor does it have the slightest bit of courage."

……

Nohime's words soon played out before Niwa Nagahide's eyes.

Even though they did not face the demon snake head-on, just the sight of its huge size frightened many of the Ashigaru guards who were protecting important figures of the Oda family as they evacuated Azuchi Castle, and they lay on the ground, not daring to move.

And there were countless people who became deserters.

If Nohime had not untied Niwa Nagahide after leaving Azuchi Castle and asked him to lead a group of the most loyal Ashigaru cavalry to patrol back and forth and maintain order in the troops, there might even have been multiple rebellions in this team that was now less than a thousand people left.

"Does Nagahide trust me now?" In the center of the army, holding the expressionless Chacha in one hand, Nohime turned her head and looked at Niwa Nagahide who was riding a horse slowly towards her and asked.

"Lord Nohime, I have to admit that I spoke a little loudly before." Niwa Nagahide bowed his head and admitted his mistake, "But this is not a solution."

"There are too many deserters. If this continues, I'm afraid half of our men will be gone before we get very far."

"Also, if I remember correctly, snakes can sense their surroundings by spitting out their cores. We don't know the range of the demon snake's perception yet. If it is detected..."

"There is no other way." Nohime looked at Niwa Nagahide dimly, "If the demon snake really turns around and chases us, then we can only ask Lord Niwa to send a group of trustworthy troops to divert the demon snake's attention."

"That is not a monster that one person or one country can fight against." Nouhime glanced at the demon snake that casually swung its tail and scraped a huge gap in the outer wall of Azuchi Castle, and sighed, "Even if Lord Nobunaga and the important officials of the Oda family are here, for the demon snake, I'm afraid it will just be a matter of swishing its tail a few more times."

"I understand." Niwa Nagahide sighed helplessly.

"Lady Nohime, will we die?" Chacha, with an expressionless face, suddenly raised her head and looked at Nohime and asked.

"...Probably." Nohime tilted her head and rubbed Chacha's delicate face affectionately.

"He's going to die... then this world is no different from a chaotic world." Cha Cha looked in a certain direction absentmindedly.

That was where she parted with her parents for the second time.

Chapter 73: Oda Family Affairs (Part 2)

Cha Cha's existence is quite embarrassing.

She is a contemporary of Yukimura Sanada.

In other words, she witnessed with her own eyes the deaths of her parents in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's offensive, and the decline of the Oda clan. Her position was quite awkward for both the Asai clan and the Oda clan.

Asai Nagamasa originally wanted to take the child back to his side.

But he could not and dared not resist Oda Nobunaga.

So this big Chacha was left in the Oda family.

Oda Nobunaga was a little concerned about this niece who knew his family's future, but he did not take it seriously.

After all, the entire Oda family moved to another world, and even fought against monsters such as the 'Heroes of the Three Kingdoms' and 'Tomurochi'. Naturally, the future she knew became nonsense.

But Nohime is very caring towards Chacha.

She did not follow Oda Nobunaga on this expedition in order to better protect Chacha.

After all, that damn monkey Hideyoshi looked at the child with a very strange look in his eyes, and Nouhime was so angry that she wanted to find someone to assassinate him several times.

But I had no choice but to give up.

After all, the Oda family's most powerful dark-side ninja line was almost entirely in Hideyoshi's hands.

Perhaps she was aware of Nohime's care for her. In the entire Oda family, there were only a few people, including Nohime, who could make Chacha speak to her actively.

Looking at the huge demon snake wantonly destroying Azuchi Castle, Chacha's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

No matter what time it was, the only impression she had of that city was 'fear' and 'hatred'.

So, when Chacha saw the demon snake wreaking havoc, she found herself wanting to laugh.

Fortunately, the arc was not large, and she retracted it quite quickly, so no one noticed it.

"Where are we going next?" After regaining her composure, Chacha looked at Nōhime and asked.

"Well - although I would like to say that I have already made a plan, unfortunately." Nouhime sighed with a bit of embarrassment on her face, "The Oda Territory has suffered a devastating blow, and we have nowhere to go."

"Now, judging from the direction, this should be the territory that Nobutada is trying to go to, trying to find Lord Nobunaga and join him." Nohime tilted her body to look at the direction the convoy was heading, then sighed with some regret, "That child always shows his cowardly side at the critical moment."

"But that kind of person is the next generation head of the Oda family originally planned to be." Chacha said with a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it." Nouhime shrugged regretfully, "Among Lord Nobunaga's children, the only one who can be regarded as worth mentioning is Nobutada. The others are not as good as Nobutada."

“……” Chacha pursed her lips, glanced at Nōhime and said nothing.

After all, she came from a time and space even further in the future than Nohime and had seen it with her own eyes.

How weak was the Oda family after Nobunaga and Nobutada died together in Honnoji Temple?

He was manipulated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Shibata Katsuie and several other important officials.

That was not the Oda family of the Oda clan, but the Oda family of Oda Nobunaga.

As long as Oda Nobunaga died, no matter who sat on the position of the head of the Oda family, ambitious people like Toyotomi Hideyoshi would not obey.

Cha Cha is very sure about this.

……

The Oda family's caravan was gradually losing members along the way.

And Azuchi Castle was already too far away to be seen by the naked eye.

Just when Cha Cha was relaxing and preparing to take a nap, there was a sudden commotion in front of the convoy.

Niwa Nagahide led his patrol team and ran forward quickly.

Chacha suddenly became clear-headed and looked ahead with Nohime.

Not long after, Niwa Nagahide came back with a troubled look on his face.

"The scout team has discovered unusual movement not far ahead. Several riders are heading quickly towards Azuchi Castle."

"Scouts? We still have scouts now... Wait, is that Mitsuki?" Nouhime's face darkened instantly, "That child, I have already told her not to do anything dangerous."

Mitsuki was the daughter of Oda Nobuyuki. After Oda Nobuyuki launched a rebellion, she was spared by Oda Nobunaga, who still had some warmth in his heart for her.

Later, when he grew up, he joined the Oda family as a ninja.

Nohime, who has no children of her own, has always treated Mitsuki and Chacha as her own children.

But unlike Chacha, who is well-behaved and obedient but a little talkative, Mitsuki is really like a monkey and will disappear without a trace if you are not paying attention.

"Ahem, Lady Nouhime, it's thanks to Mitsuki that we were able to discover their whereabouts." Niwa Nagahide interrupted Nouhime's complaints with a few dry coughs. "Those people seemed to be following the path of the demon snake. If nothing unexpected happened, we wouldn't have encountered them."

"Tracking the demon snake? You are so skilled and bold." Nouhime raised her eyebrows and looked at Niwa Nagahide. "So, shouldn't we just avoid them and keep moving forward? Why is there a commotion ahead?"

"Mitsuki left his companions behind and rushed forward alone in order to seek information." Niwa Nagahide replied somewhat awkwardly, "but he was taken down by the enemy in one encounter."

"...A face-to-face meeting?" Nohime looked at Niwa Nagahide with some surprise and asked.

Only after seeing the other party nod in response did he frown.

"I know Mitsuki's skills very well. Although he can't compare with the top ones, he is still an elite among the Oda clan's ninjas. He was taken down in one encounter... It seems that those people are tracking the demon snake with great ambitions." Nohime sighed, "No matter which world or era, there are such people. In order to spread their own fame, they deliberately challenge some difficult opponents."

"What did Nobutada say?" Although Nohime had already expected it, she still asked.

"Lord Nobutada...plans to abandon Mitsuki and let the convoy continue along the original route." Niwa Nagahide replied with pursed lips.

Oda Nobutada was not very friendly to Mitsuki.

In fact, in the entire Oda family, no one was willing to pay attention to the child except the people from the Toyotomi and Akechi factions.

And Shibata Katsuie avoided him as much as possible.

Who made him one of the people who followed Oda Nobuyuki in the rebellion?

"Lady Nouhime." Upon hearing this, Chacha couldn't help but grab the corner of Nouhime's clothes.

Mitsuki, and Akechi Mitsuhide's daughter Akechi Tamako... Oh, now her name has changed to Garcia. These are Chacha's only two friends in the Oda family... Although the title of friend was given by the other party on their own, Chacha still has a very good impression of both of them.

So when she heard that Mitsuki was going to be abandoned, the fear of "losing" once again appeared in Chacha's pupils.

Chapter 74: Meeting with the Oda Clan

"How did you have the guts to play those little tricks in front of two ninjas?"

Several horses surrounded them. Ayane tilted her neck and looked at the girl in front of her who was sitting cross-legged on the ground with an unconvinced expression on her face, and sighed.

"To say that your kung fu is just mediocre is a bit of an exaggeration. Your ability to conceal your body is even more disgusting. If you hadn't called yourself a 'ninja', I would have thought you were some little brat pretending to be an adult."

"Hmph!" Mitsuki turned his head away, looking as if he would not say anything even if he was beaten to death.

"Is her method of hiding her figure really so crude?" Hatsuho asked in surprise. "To be honest, if she hadn't appeared, I wouldn't have even noticed her existence before."

"It's a bit rough indeed." Xia nodded and replied, "It's a bit worse than Speedbird."

"...For a moment I didn't know whether you were praising her or belittling her." Hatsuho looked at Kasumi speechlessly.

"Sahibori gave up his advantage as a ninja and neglected to improve himself, so his ninja skills are very crude." Kasumi explained, "And this little girl... she simply lacks talent."

Mitsuki, who was called a little girl, had turned her head and glared at Kasumi.

"What are you looking at?" Ayane stretched out her finger and tapped Mitsuki's forehead. "Although I don't like to talk about her merits, she is one of the best ninjas. Even if you practice for another ten years, you will never be able to catch up with her."

"Ahhhh!" Mitsuki gnashed his teeth in the direction of Ayane.

"Master Lian, do you know this girl?" Taiyi looked at Master Lian and asked.

"Never seen him before." Bu Lianshi shook his head and replied, "I think he must be a rising star among the ninjas."

"But I can't figure out why she would suddenly jump out and attack us."

That’s right, Mitsuki was not caught.

After all, Taichi and others were busy defeating the demon snake Enryuchi, so they had no time to care about the ninjas lying in ambush on the roadside.

As a result, this girl suddenly jumped in front of Taiyi and others and took the initiative to attack.

As a result, Ayane caught him in a few moves, tied him up and threw him on the ground.

"Look through her possessions to see if you can find any iconic items." Taiyi looked at Ayane and reminded her, "If you can't find any...then just carry her like this for now."

After all, it was a chaotic time, and if the child was tied up and left there, she could easily lose her life.

"Hmph!" Mitsuki tilted his head and started pretending to be stern again.

But her coldness was quickly broken by Ayane's special method.

By the time Ayane had turned the little girl over and found nothing, she was already crying and snotting, with the corners of her mouth unnaturally upturned.

"We didn't find anything. I'm taking care of her myself." Ayane glanced at Mitsuki and reported to Taichi.

"Stop! Let go of that ninja!" Just as Ayane grabbed the rope that bound Mitsuki and was about to throw him onto the horse's back, an angry shout was heard from afar.

Looking back, I saw a carriage escorted by a dozen riders appearing on the forest path.

"Nohime!" Looking at the luxuriously dressed woman who walked down from the carriage, Bu Lianshi called out her name in some surprise.

"Bu Renshi?" Nohime was quite impressed by Bu Renshi, whose clothes were more open than hers and whose bust was enough to make her look superior to other women, so she recognized her at the first sight.

"Why did you appear in my Oda territory? And you kidnapped the female ninja from my Oda family."

"Subjugate the demon snake." Bu Renshi responded, "But why are you still staying here, Lady Nouhime? Have you not seen the destructive power of the demon snake yet?"

"Of course I have seen it." Nouhime looked at the group of people, her eyebrows slightly curved, "It is because I have seen it that I think what you said is really ridiculous."

"Just relying on the few people present here, do you think you can defeat the huge demon snake?"

"I think you are more like those who took the opportunity to enter my Oda territory to rob."

"Four demon snakes have been defeated." Bu Renshi looked at Nōhime dimly and said.

"...What?" Nōhime looked at Bu Renshi in surprise.

"This Lord Raikou over here has already defeated four demon snakes himself." Bu Lianshi came to Taiyi and introduced, "The one he is tracking now is the fifth one."

"Huh? That kind of behemoth? We have already conquered four of them? Are you kidding me?" Mitsuki on horseback finally couldn't help but speak this time.

"No, just before we arrived at the Oda territory, Lord Raikou successfully defeated two demon snakes again." Ayane answered, tapping Mitsuki's head with her knuckles.

"Rai... Hikari?" Nouhime's eyebrows trembled slightly when she heard the name, and she looked at Taichi with a look of astonishment. "Sir, could it be that Minamoto no Raikou, the brave general who once conquered the Oeyama Demon King, the Tsuchigumo and other great monsters?"

"Not really." Taichi shook his head and replied without hesitation, "I live in an era that is four or five hundred years in the future compared to the people of your Warring States period. I have no kinship with the pillar of the Genji clan in the Heian period."